Elisabeth D. Svendsen was born in Yorkshire in 1930. In 1969, while running a hotel in Ottery, St. Mary with her husband, Elisabeth Svendsen acquired her first donkey, a jenny named Naughty Face. She joined the Donkey Breed Society and became its area representative. When she observed the appalling condition of donkeys for sale in Exeter market, she decided to stop breeding donkeys and instead start rescuing abused donkeys. By 1973, she had rescued 38 donkeys, and she registered The Donkey Sanctuary as a charity. She also established The Elisabeth Svendsen Trust for Children and Donkeys, a charity which gives children with special needs the opportunity to have contact with and ride donkeys. In 1992 she received an Honorary Doctorate of Veterinary Medicine and Surgery from the University of Glasgow. In 2001 she was honored by the RSPCA in recognition of her important contribution to the field of animal welfare.